Plastic Bag

"The plastic bag", most infamous for its minor role in American Beauty, has become a full fledged actor, starring in its best film yet.

Wonderfully melancholic. "And yet - like a fool - I still have hope I will meet her again. And if I do, I will tell her just one thing: I wish that you had created me so that I could die."

Witty, creative short

A plastic bag with Werner Herzog's voice. It's really cute.

A sentient plastic bag goes through love, loss and life. The most impressive thing about the film is how surprisingly beautiful and touching it is. Herzog's narration both has a touch of the comic in it and yet also a strange earnestness.

I liked the concept and the narration, but this short film's hugely important message will tragically be lost on all those who matter, due to its ridiculously bloated runtime of 18 minutes. That's enough to suffocate yourself with a plastic bag 5 or 6 times, and believe me you will wish you had one handy.

Herzog is the best narrator of all time.

Herzog's narration, voicing an inanimate object with the purplest of prose, shouldn't work. Twenty minutes of a bag drifting to and fro shouldn't work. Yet the little things (how many of us re-use a plastic bag so many times?), the post-human setting, the fantastic sound design all bring the world and the over-personified character to life, in a way that's left me guilt-ridden and highly conscious of waste ever since. Very effective.

Spirited and inventive. I did think the last line was woefully preachy, and tonally antithical to the rest of the short. No matter what, though, this should be relatively inspirational to all aspiring filmmakers.

Like a less efficient and more bloated version of The Red Balloon, in which we're meant to sympathize with an inanimate object. Bahrani tries to inject some stuff about environmentalism and spirituality, and though it's an admirable effort, it's just not terribly insightful. At least it's shot extremely well and narrated by Werner Herzog.

A reflection on life and the state of humanity through the lens of a plastic bag. Far better than most films. Emotionally wasn't compelling, felt rushed.

The epic journey of a plastic bag, involving love, danger, depression, soul-searching and a spiritual awakening. American Beauty did get at least one thing right: there is a certain beauty to a bag blowing in the wind. And this short is beautiful, thoughtful, humorous, and intriguing. The real draw is the Werner Herzog narration, his voice is so distinct and soothing. I couldn't tell if the environmental message was intended or not, and that may be as a possible failure by the filmmaker.

I can't help but think how much more profound this would've been without Herzog's silly narration and the sentimental score.